Board of Police Commissioners, Evening Community Meeting
Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
Criminal Justice
Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024
6:30 p.m. — 8:30 p.m. EST
1001 W Fort St Detroit, MI 48226 (Directions)
WCCCD Curtis L. Ivery Campus — Hayden Community Room
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team
Live reporting by
Kayleigh Lickliter
Community members demanded the release of body worn camera footage in all use-of force incidents, and a ban on bailiffs carrying firearms during evictions. Police department officials responded to questions about unlicensed police officers, DPD’s mass deportation policy and more.
Kayleigh Lickliter
@kayleighrenel
Good evening, Detroit!💃🏼❄️ I’ll be live-tweeting the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting at 6:30pm for #DETdocumenters @media_outlier @BridgeDet313 @PlanetDetroit @freep @wdet @metrotimes @chalkbeatDET @MichiganRadio @DetDocumenters @wxyzdetroit
05:08 PM Dec 12, 2024 CST
The city’s event page provides multiple options for the public to watch and/or participate in the meetings. You’ll also find multiple reports toward the bottom. detroitmi.gov/events/board-p…
detroitmi.gov/events/board-p…
Some newsstand highlights from this week 📰 A retired Detroit police sergeant is accused of fatally shooting someone during a landlord-tenant dispute freep.com/story/news/loc…
freep.com/story/news/loc…
An update on the two teens who were sleeping on their parent’s front porch wxyz.com/news/tenant-fa…
wxyz.com/news/tenant-fa…
A Detroit police officer was hospitalized after being dragged by a car, two suspects have turned themselves in. Lots of details still unknown fox2detroit.com/news/second-su…
fox2detroit.com/news/second-su…
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is investigating MCOLES licenses for several Detroit police officers wdet.org/2024/12/11/kym…
wdet.org/2024/12/11/kym…
A positive story for a change. Neighborhood police officers (NPOs) helped clean up a blighted home in the 9th precinct fox2detroit.com/news/detroit-p…
fox2detroit.com/news/detroit-p…
➡️The meeting was called to order but there isn’t a quorum present so the board can’t conduct any business until another member shows up.
A quorum was established after invocation, so we are moving forward with the meeting! The only two I didn't hear during roll call was Chair Woods & Smith.
Chairman Darryl Woods has arrived. He apologized for being late and said he was at a radiothon.
Commissioner Linda Bernard is presenting a resolution honoring University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy for the school’s contributions to the community.
⏩Chiefs Report 👀 2.5 weeks left in the year and there's been 40 less homicides in 2024 compared to this time last year.
👀 Non-fatal shootings are down by 189 this year vs. last year. Robberies are down by 176 Carjacking are down by 18
Updates on critical incidents over the last week: 1. Friday, Dec. 6th 1:45am Officers dispatched to 1300 block of Manor to investigate a Shotspotter alert for 17-rounds fired. Officers responded within approximately 4 minutes and found a victim suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim a was transported via EMS and pronounced dead at the hospital.
Witnesses said the victim was observed talking to two males dressed in all black before the shooting. The incident is under investigation. Detectives are asking anyone with info to contact CrimeStopper (1800-SPEAKUP)
2. Dec. 7th around 11:45pm - Carjacking spree that resulted in an officer-involved shooting. Officers were dispatched to the 13000 Block of Lakepointe to investigate a carjacking.
Officers arrived on the scene and spoke with the victim who stated she was parked in her driveway when suspects approached her vehicle and produced firearms, pointed them at her, and ordered her out of her car before driving away in it.
Later that day, detectives tracked the victim's vehicle to Conant & Outer Dr and conducted surveillance. They observed the suspects exit the vehicle and attempt to carjack someone else, at which time detectives attempted to apprehend them
One of the suspects produced a weapon at which time officers fired shots at the suspects, injuring one of them at the scene. A total of six suspects between 14-16 years old were arrested at the scene.
3. Tues, Dec. 10th around 5:40pm - Officers were dispatched to the 15000 block of Kentfield to investigate a fatal shooting involving a retired sergeant. The suspect and several witnesses were still on the scene.
Detectives determined this was a landlord-tenant dispute between the victim and the suspect. The suspect claims to have shot the victim in self-defense, fearing the victim was armed. The Homicide Section is preparing to submit a warrant to the prosecutor's office for review.
4. Tues. Dec. 10th around 11:28pm - officers were on routine patrol in the area of St Marys & Cambridge when they observed a vehicle blocking a sidewalk. Officers observed two suspects inside the vehicle and asked them to exit the vehicle at which time the suspects refused.
Officers attempted to open the door and as they did so, the suspect accelerated and turned the vehicle towards another officer. The suspect sped away, striking the officer, at which time officers fired shots at the suspect.
The vehicle drove away and was discovered two blocks away shortly after the incident. The officer was transported to the hospital and was listed in stable condition.
Officers discovered one of the suspects suffering from a gunshot wound a short distance away when they were canvassing the area. The suspect was taken to the hospital and listed in critical condition. A second suspect turned themselves into the police yesterday.
The incident is still under investigation and Michigan State Police are conducting an investigation into the officer-involved shooting as well.
5. Officers helped Goodfellows distribute boxes of toys to children on Monday, Dec. 9th.
On Saturday, Dec. 14th, DPD's Organized Crime Unit will visit Genesis House to conduct outreach with the unsheltered population.
🚨Commissioner Eva Garza Dewaelsche asked how the department is planning for the Trump administration's plans to conduct mass deportation on his first day in office. DPD said they haven't received any information from the federal govt about the effort.
DPD said they anticipate something but they can't say how they'll handle it until the orders come down. "The first thing we have to do is see what orders come down." (apologies, I didn't catch the officers name)
➡️ Downtown Services overview Downtown is part of the 3rd precinct. Part one violent crime is down. One of the biggest aspects of crime downtown is that it's usually event-driven.
They have counterfeit and breaking & entering teams that go out and patrol for specific crimes. They use technology like Project Greenlight, LPRs, etc.
They've increased patrols around the Grand Circus Park area which wasn't well-lit initially but had rising crime. They started doing patrols in that area and increased lighting to make it safer, which has been a success
3rd precinct conducted warrants related to B&E warrants, made some arrests, and recovered "a number of weapons." Specific numbers weren't provided
Commissioner Bernard asked for reports on DPD's use of drones and commented on the economic impact that shutting down Eastern Market has had on nearby businesses following the recent shooting after a Lions game fox2detroit.com/news/eastern-m…
fox2detroit.com/news/eastern-m…
DPD said they'll do a follow-up on the concern but they have a good relationship with downtown businesses.
1. Minister Eric Blount - disagrees with Prosecutor Worthy's decision not to charge the bailiff who shot Sherman Butler during an eviction. Made several demands including an ordinance requiring the release of all body-worn camera footage in use-of-force incidents within 24 hours.
Also demanded the release of all bodyworn camera footage in the shooting of Sherman Butler, a prohibition on bailiffs carrying firearms during eviction proceedings, and a requirement that a mental health professional is present at all eviction proceedings.
The above comment was continued through several comments by different individuals
4. Spoke about a phone call that was made before Kaniesha Coleman's death. wdet.org/2021/12/23/a-g…
wdet.org/2021/12/23/a-g…
5. spoke about the 32 police officers who were found not to be licensed with MCOLES. Demanded the release of these officers' names.
Commander Parrish responded and said the names were provided to the prosecutor's office and shared with MCOLES;. The names can be made available through FOIA... "they will not be just voluntarily posted at this time."
Parrish said they're still working through issues on this matter but they intend to have them resolved very soon. They are in contact w/ MCOLES daily and anticipate the officers involved will return to duty soon, hopefully by the end of the year.
Parrish said two officers have had their licenses fully restored and he has no reason to believe any of the officers will be denied certification or licensure. They'll be serving in an administrative capacity until it's fully restored.
Paperwork was the only issue re: officers' status with MCOLES
Parrish returned to the ? re: mass deportation and said the department released a statement within the last few days, which it seemed as though he was reading from.
DPD: "Our values as an agency leave no room for the enforcement of laws related to undocumented individuals who have otherwise committed no crime."
Parrish said there are laws already in effect that prevent the federal government from using local resources to enforce federal law. He's not aware of any federal grant condition that ties their ability to keep the money to the department's willingness to enforce immigration law
Commissioner Benard, an attorney, rejected the department's position and said federal law supersedes state and local law.
Note: there may have been a misunderstanding in what was said. Parrish wasn't speaking about what laws trump other laws. He was more or less saying the federal government can't come in and use DPD's resources to enforce federal law.
6 (I think?) Taura Brown echoed what the previous caller said re: making the list of uncertified offers public. She compared the city's FOIA process to United Healthcare wherein the process is intended to delay and deny.
Brown: "We wait and we wait and we wait and we finally get a denial in the mail." She also questioned previous statements that were made re: the timeline of events in the murder of Mr. Butler and whether or not he was acting as a DPD officer.
7. Mr. Foster - pointed out that the city has had to pay out thousands in fines for failing to respond to FOIA. Asked for the dispatch audio to be released wherein WCSO was told to come to Detroit to enforce laws.
8. William Davis, a former police commissioner, asked why the officers who aren't certified with MCOLES are still being paid. Also thinks the handling of DPD FOIA requests is questionable.
DPD responded and said this was an issue w/ administrative oversight, not because of misconduct or any issue on the part of the officers. This was an error in the training office, the recruiting office, etc. "So we cannot hold this against the officers."
Re: FOIA - DPD said they have "legal obligations" to DPD employees before they release their names. He cited a specific law that requires notice if they're going to release an officer's name.
9. Said an officer in the 7th precinct needs retaining. He was interrupted by the board for a comment he made that members thought was threatening. Also, he said there are problems with retired sergeants, and mentioned a retired DPD officer who now heads the Lions security team.
Running through housekeeping items - the BOPC's budget was explained, as well as a policy regarding bola wraps. From what I gathered, they approved the budget. Unclear what they did with the policy.
With nothing else on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned at 7:38pm.
This concludes the Board of Police Commissioners meeting on Thursday, December 12th, 2024. For more meeting coverage, visit 🎉 Documenters.org
Documenters.org
Agency Information
Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
The Board of Police Commissioners has supervisory control and oversight of the Police Department, including plenary authority over citizen complaints and the power to appoint fact finders, subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony, and require the production of evidence. The Board also appoints a civilian as Director of Police Personnel and approves all promotions made by the Chief. The 11 member board is comprised of 7 elected members from each city council district and 4 members appointed by the Mayor. https://detroitmi.gov/government/boards/board-police-commissioners
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